Painting eggs is just so 20th century (egg-looking cookie recipe included in this post)

So Easter is here again. I hope everyone's enjoying the holiday and spending qualitative time with your friends and relatives. In my country we eat more than 6 million eggs per hour during easter. I bet that's not even a high amount comparing to other countries. There's a lot of talk these days about eggs originating from free-range farms. But as you understand, it's simply mathematically impossible to supply this amount of eggs laid by free-range hens.

For some people, painting eggs is the only time each year when they adhere to the creative side of themselves, but hey, an egg is actually part of a hen's menstruation so why don't paint something more appetizing? Instead of painting eggs (the overwhelming majority of which come from birds intensively confined inside tiny wire cages for the entire lives), look for paper-maché or wooden eggs in craft stores to paint, decorate, and hide. You can also make egg-free egg-shaped cookies that are a fun and delicious way to fill your Easter basket with joy. Here's the recipe (courtesy Compassion Over Killing):

Easy Vegan Sugar Cookies (makes 20-24 cookies)

2¾ - 3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
¾ cup Earth Balance (or other vegan butter)
¼ cup soymilk
¼ cup The Vegg (or other vegan egg replacer)
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
With an electric mixer, beat together vegan butter, sugar, soymilk, The Vegg, vanilla, and salt.
Add in the flour and baking powder and mix, just until combined.
Shape dough into a log or ball and wrap in plastic. Chill for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 375° and remove dough from wrapping. If you rolled it into a log, take a sharp knife and cut rounds with 1/4” thickness. If rolled into a ball, dust your counter with flour, roll-out dough, and cut into desired shapes.
Bake on a very lightly-greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes until edges just start to turn gold.
Remove from oven and allow to firm on pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before glazing them.

Cookie Glaze (a great alternative to sprinkles!)

1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tbsp soymilk
1 tsp almond extract (or clear vanilla extract)
½ tsp cream of tartar
vegan or natural food coloring
Mix together all the ingredients, except for the coloring, and glaze the cookies.
Add 2 to 3 drops of each color you want to use for painting to different bowls.
Dip toothpick into coloring and draw in the still-wet glaze. Allow to set (colors will spread slightly)